Pakistan starts preparing for next round of US-Iran talks: Officials

Pakistan has started preparing to host the second round of highstakes talks between the US and Iran during the next week for a landmark peacedeal to end the war in West Asia that has crippled global energy supplies officials said on FridayThe US and Iran held rare direct talks in Pakistan over the weekend aimed at ending their conflict but the talks ended early Sunday without any agreementOfficial sources in Pakistan on Friday said that a feverish diplomatic activity followed to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table It was met with success as both continue to observe the temporary twoweek ceasefire allowing Pakistan to relaunch its mediatory pushAfter working behind the scenes Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif embarked on a trination tour on Wednesday while Field Marshal Asim Munir landed in Tehran on the same dayThe Prime Minister after discussion with the Saudi and Qatari leaders reached Turkiye on Thursday night as the Field Marshal spent more than 24 hours in Iran meeting its political and military leadersThough nothing has been officially said about the outcome of talks between the Pakistani civil and military leaders security officials back home suddenly became active on Thursday evening authorities saidAccording to officials in Islamabad preparations have started in Islamabad and neighbouring Rawalpindi as thousands of police and paramilitary personnel have started coming from other provincesTraditionally the Islamabad administration seeks support from provinces to help in the work of law enforcement in case mega security arrangements are neededDuring the first round of talks more than 10000 security personnel were deployedThere are also reports that transport companies have been approached by the Islamabad and Rawalpindi districts officials to inform them that traffic coming from other cities or leaving the twin cities may face drastic restrictionsAccording to a message shared on social media such restrictions once imposed may continue until the end of next week It urged citizens to avoid unnecessary travel during the next week or plan well in advanceSimilarly educational institutions may be closed in the two cities along with markets in areas close to the airport to reduce traffic on roads officials saidUS Vice President JD Vance who led the American delegation said the talks failed to reach a deal citing Tehran not forgoing its nuclear programme as one of the key sticking pointsParliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who led the Iranian delegation in marathon peace talks said that his team raised forwardlooking initiatives but the opposite side ultimately failed to win the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiationsThe conflict began after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28 paralysing global energy markets and disrupting tradeThe ceasefire between the US and Iran would expire on April 22The chances of a peace deal got further support when President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday that he may travel to Islamabad if a final agreement with Iran is signed there while claiming that Tehran has accepted almost everything currently under negotiationIf a deal is signed in Islamabad I may goThey want me he told the reporters on the White House lawn before departing for Nevada and ArizonaTrump expressed optimism about Pakistanled diplomatic efforts to end hostilities and secure a settlement before the current ceasefire expires indicating that he would extend it although he suggested such a move might not be necessary if a deal is reached in timeThe US leader has repeatedly praised Pakistan and its leaders Prime Minister Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir as extraordinary kind and very competent has once again shown his ability to swing the global conversation with a single statementThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever